Would really appreciate some people's views before I write a letter of complaint about my recent Endo appointment.
Current dose - 175 T4 only
TSH 4.7 (0.35-5.0)
FT4 14.4 (9-24)
FT3 4.2 (3.5-6.5)
The above labs were taken last week. Endo says "that's great your thyroid is now spot on and no action needed - I will refer you to Dr Bansal in Sutton UK to assist you with the chronic fatigue you are experiencing"
I almost fell off my chair ! Any assistance would help a lot - if he is like that with me I can only imagine how the older more vulnerable patients are being treated !
Written by
stuartwwhouse
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Well he is a 'TSH-only Endo', apparently, from those remarks! Honestly I dread hearing much the same next time I see my doctor ('well, your TSH is now in range so you're good!). 4.7 is still way too high, and your T4/T3 aren't high enough either (need to be 3/4 way up the range), so clearly you need a higher dosage (or maybe some T3? I'm sure someone else who's wiser will know) in order to combat your fatigue. It really is dreadful that all he's done is put a plaster over the wound but hasn't bothered to change it with a new one when it's clearly needed!
OK, but complaining just sets up a conflict situation. It won't help you, and it wont help anyone else. In fact all it will do is reduce your chance of getting decent treatment for ANY condition in the future. Doctors are understandably wary of complainers. Every doctor knows another whose life/career was ruined by a frivolous complaint, and so it matters not whether yours is justified.
My advice, with my sensible hat on, is that you ask for a raise in dosage, on the grounds that you have some head room, and you are not suggesting that you are over medicated. If you ask nicely you have a better chance of having your request met.
Not what I mean. Just ask politely but firmly. You are not well, and before they go down the CFS route (which is 'take it on the chin, but here's some CBT to help you cope') it would not be unreasonable to try you on an increased dose.
Spot on my ar**!! Your results are not great are they! I notice in your profile that you were taking 100 levo and 40 lio but now you are taking 175 levo only? Were you taken off lio by your endo? Im currently taking 125 levo and 30 lio but i'm about to have the lio taken away from me even though it is helping. My results are not optimal though for my FT3. I suspect the chronic fatigue is under dosed thyroid! Very frustrating isnt it. I think like Jadzhia and Ruthi have said you will probably end up self medicating which is where i'm about to be going but its very wrong and i totally agree with you re the elderly and vulnerable who trust the medical profession "doctor knows best" etc. It stinks. Ive emailed my endo who has left me wondering what i'm supposed to be doing? Do i go back on levo and feel worse or will they monitor me if i self medicate? Dunno but hope you get an increase in your meds somewhere along the lines!
The excuse was a lie. They don't like the cost of it.
The NHS is the biggest healthcare organisation in the world and yet it meekly accepts whatever price the pharmaceutical companies want to charge without exercising any of their HUGE buying power to get prices reduced.
Yep, i was plodding along nicely and getting an increase here and there and then one of the doctors i saw at the practice decided it was too expensive, no medical evidence blah blah blah and referred me to an Endo who said she might be able to help...in my case i felt i was not converting but she has since written back to say she disagrees...i have further corresponded with her as i dont think the result she obtained was the one which i felt showed a problem and i am waiting to hear if she will obtain the result i have indicated. To be honest i think i am wasting my time but im going to keep pushing until someone tells me to stop!! So...they have upped your levo then to try and bring the all important T3 up? This is what they tried with me before i changed docs (we moved to another county with my work) and i ended up with ft4 over range with a supressed tsh and felt rotten! With regards where one needs to be with ft3/ft4 i'm still learning especially when taking t3! i think with levo only isnt it the top 3/4 with levo for ft3 and ft4, and i guess when taking lio it is really the ft3 only result which is important as lio supresses the tsh and ft4 or something like that? Please chime in guys if i've got this wrong.
I agree with the advice giving I am a nurse & depending on the patient & how they came across this can affect how far a medic will help you, sad but true, all doc's should be listening to what your concerns are then ask you 'what can I do to help' as good old NHS finally realised that patients are at the heart of everything & they know best what's going to help them..sounds pretty simple but nope medics are receiving education in this as they get it so wrong ..there's a couldn't make it up for you nurses and doctors getting education on care & compassion! As I work in such a caring compassionate NHS there is huge expectation & pressure I should be back at work as 6weeks ago TSH 180 but now it's better at 77 & that's on 225mcg s thyroxine there probably right to be fair as TSH now 77 so may succumb to pressure & I think I can probably go back maybe next week
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private endo is it really worth it?? plz help!
Eyebrow make up
Levo..... Can you buy it legally online without a prescription?????
Years ago you were locked up in the madhouse if you suffered Hypothyroidism..have things really changed ??!!!!
